Final Fantasy XIII "Ten Minute Taste"

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As requested and promised, here's our additional Ten Minute Taste of the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII. Our first one didn't do much for those that played the Japanese demo, as it covered much of the same ground.

This new one comes from about 3 hours into the game. We did our best to pick a part that showed something new, working hard to avoid anything that would spoil the story. That said, if you're trying to save yourself for the US release, keep in mind that this is well past the first ten minutes. If you don't understand Japanese, you won't have to worry about that, though.

Here you'll see a new stage (shiny!) and some more involved battle tactics. It's definitely more involved than the mindless attacking from the beginning, but it gets even better. It takes a few more hours before the game really opens up, in both the battle system and the world.

I've been asked a few times for an early verdict. This won't do much for you, but it should be fairly obvious:

If you love Final Fantasy, you'll likely love this. If you hate it and other JRPGs, don't bother. Just as you expected. Big crazy story, shiny graphics, lovely music, just like always. A non-branching storyline in the beginning, though. That's also the case in other series games. Final Fantasy was never an exploration game, so why expect that now? I love this fast-paced battle system when it finally opens up. No healing after battles, no walking through towns to advance storylines. Good changes. Fun game.

Click here to watch!

Source: Destructoid
 
No healing after battles, no walking through towns to advance storylines. Good changes. Fun game.

Interesting statement considering there has been a negative climate surrounding FFXIII concerning these changes.

Thank you for the post, Ari- that gave me something to do and I managed to watch the whole thing- nearly 13 minutes long actually.

So that's how the field screen works. The characters do appear and wander around in different paces- with Vanille always being ahead. They also occasionally talk to each other- which is quite cool and a good way to distract people from the linearity.

The battles seem to make my eyes spin- it looks like I need to get used to it. And they kept the music from the very first trailer of FFXIII all the way back in 2006 :awesome:

Lake Bilge looks so beautiful and well-designed- who said the linearity will kill the game? It looks alright and like any other FF game so far!
 
I'm still not sold. I'm sorry guys, flame me if you will, but I'm just not getting into it. Maybe the designs, although nice, can distract some, I just can't keep focusing on how linear it is. I do, however, like that they talk while you are journeying. Although, I'm quite used to that already thanks to Rogue Galaxy. :D

I'm not just a fan of the linear direction that FF has taken since FFX. I'm going to miss that exploration feel. Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to get into games that are too linear.
 
I just can't keep focusing on how linear it is.

I'm not just a fan of the linear direction that FF has taken since FFX. I'm going to miss that exploration feel. Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to get into games that are too linear.

When has Final Fantasy ever not been linear?

I'll answer that question. Twice, with varying results.

1) The World of Ruin in FF6. Excluding a handful of characters that were necessary, you could finish the game however you wanted. Arguably the best game in the series.

2) X-2. With some exceptions, you could finish the game basically however you wanted. Arguably the worst game in the series.

Every other game in the series is a linear chain of events with minimal deviation. That's why I don't understand the 'linear' argument. If you don't like linear games, you probably shouldn't be playing anything with "Final Fantasy" in the title.
 
This vid just made my day! I'm actually quite pleased with it! Linear isn't so bad! Although the battles may be a bit of a problem for me, seeing as I'll have no clue as to where to look or what I'm doing:P
 
I'm still not sold. I'm sorry guys, flame me if you will

I WILL SET YOU ABLAZE RIGHT NOW :rage:

Just watching that has me so absolutely pumped! I can't WAIT! Hubby and I just sat together and watched this. It looks amazing!! x3 Though I don't understand why people are bitching that it's so linear. All FF games (save FFII) were linear until you go through the famous airship scene and acquire it. So honestly, I don't understand those complaints at all. Oh well. Anyway, it looks so beautiful and I honestly cannot wait! It's going to be so awesome! :yay: Thank you for sharing this with us, Asabella. ^_^
 
Every other game in the series is a linear chain of events with minimal deviation. That's why I don't understand the 'linear' argument. If you don't like linear games, you probably shouldn't be playing anything with "Final Fantasy" in the title.

Well, I mean linear in terms of exploration. Final Fantasy's 1 - IX all featured open worlds that you could explore at will. After a while when you got your airship, that's when the world really opened up and you could go where you want and search for secret locations, side quests, mini games, and other assortments.

You're thinking of linear in "I can play this game how I want terms". I'm thinking of linear in terms of "I can explore what I see, and go where I want".

In FFXIII you're quite literally stuck on a beaten path, just like FFX and just like FFX-2.

Also, I completely disagree with you about FFX-2. Although you could go where you wanted in the beginning of the game, the world itself was linear.

And yes, it is the worst game in the series.

Now, every game is going to have a linear story. I don't care what it is, but I've stated on multiple occasions that the gameplay and the world doesn't have to be. The gameplay and worlds in FFX, somewhat in FFXII, and now in FFXIII are terribly linear.

Every other game in the series is a linear chain of events with minimal deviation.

Wrong. Each have their own mini quests, side quests, mini games, and a huge world to explore. FFX and now what seems to be FFXIII do not. Which is part of the reason that I do not like FFX, and which is why I know that I'm not going to like FFXIII.

All in all, it's just my opinion. I'm not going to attempt to convert anyone into thinking otherwise. Everyone is going to react to the game in their own way. Although you don't understand my argument on why I believe the game is linear, I can't understand how you couldn't. Most of the time with conflicting views, that just sort of happens.

Like I said, maybe you guys can enjoy a game that is strictly linear, but I need some form of open world in my games. I guess I just enjoy the exloration concept. :D
 
Well, I heard that once you get to a particular chapter in the story, it becomes almost a completely different game. By that, I think it means you may be able to explore large stretches of areas without being confined to a solitary, beaten, linear line.

I wager that this is Pulse- where you will be able to ride and treasure-hunt with Chocobos, listen to the stories of crystallised L'Cies and hunt for monsters. These are all sidequests, and I'm confident that SE will have more sidequests in there somewhere.

So Tsuki- relax :)

The beginning parts of the game may be linear as hell (I personally see no problem in this)- but it may change to your liking later on.

Plus I wouldn't say there have been any huge worlds in explore in any FF game. I would attribute that more with the Dragon Quest series.
 
I actually have to agree with .Swift though, to be honest. And also, it's really hard to base an entire game off of simply just a 10 minute sneak peek at what's going on, you know? I mean hell, for all we know, even us who are really excited about it and think it looks amazing may end up hating it! It was kinda like that with XII. For me anyway. The graphics looked awesome and the trailers drew you in, but once you started playing and got more into the story you're sitting there going...:wtf: :brow: you know? :D So don't judge it JUST yet based on some 10 minute clips or people bitching on 2chan. If you don't want to buy it, then why don't you wait until some of us play it and hear our feedback. Maybe that'll help you decide if you want to play it or not. ;))
 
Disagreeing with my opinion... I THINK NOT! :rage:

Actually, I've watched a lot more footage than this. From livestreams, many reviews at 2-channel and 4-chan and such. I'm not going to buy the game, but I'm probably going to play it at a friends house to get my final thoughts on it. Overall though, I still don't think I'm going to like it. After all, I'm pessimistic by nature. XD
 
Well, I mean linear in terms of exploration. Final Fantasy's 1 - IX all featured open worlds that you could explore at will. After a while when you got your airship, that's when the world really opened up and you could go where you want and search for secret locations, side quests, mini games, and other assortments.

Until you got the airship. That's the point. Also, if you're meaning that in FFX/X-2/XII you only have pre-determined docking points instead of being able to fly all over the map at will, I think that's a minor point at best. It's not like you'd find something at every single point on the map when you were exploring. There were specific hot spots. The PS2 games just simplified the process.


Tsukianei said:
Wrong. Each have their own mini quests, side quests, mini games, and a huge world to explore. FFX and now what seems to be FFXIII do not. Which is part of the reason that I do not like FFX, and which is why I know that I'm not going to like FFXIII.

Side quests and mini-games don't make the game, in my opinion.
 
The PS2 games just simplified the process.

In my honest opinion, they killed the process. It took out exploration, and it made things dull and boring.

Side quests and mini-games don't make the game, in my opinion.

Exactly, but they greatly enhance it. They help the game become better than it is. And they are overall a huge part of the game. Which is why FFXII can take people 100+ hours to get through, and why most people are saying that they're done with FFXIII in just under 40 hours.

It's a sham I tell you, a sham!!! (Just kidding.) To each his own I suppose.
 
In my honest opinion, they killed the process. It took out exploration, and it made things dull and boring.

You'd probably love Versus then. As I may have said before (can't remember if I have or not :hmmm:), Nomura hints that there may be a world map for that game. How big it will be though I have no idea.

Or Crystal Bearers for the Wii. I hear that's rather open world for a FF game. It may be your cup of tea if you don't mind the gameplay mechanics of it.

Which is why FFXII can take people 100+ hours to get through, and why most people are saying that they're done with FFXIII in just under 40 hours.

I've clocked up 120 hours on FFXII so far- and I'm sure I can easily do that for FFXIII as well.

Where did you hear that it will take 40 hours to complete? Surely that length of time is the time taken to beat the main story, right? I'm hoping so, because 40 hrs for a full length RPG is rather woeful.
 
You'd probably love Versus then. As I may have said before (can't remember if I have or not
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), Nomura hints that there may be a world map for that game. How big it will be though I have no idea.


I've been waiting for that one. I'm hoping that it's pretty awesome. It just always seemed more interesting to me.

Or Crystal Bearers for the Wii. I hear that's rather open world for a FF game. It may be your cup of tea if you don't mind the gameplay mechanics of it.
I want to play that, but I don't have a Wii. :(

Where did you hear that it will take 40 hours to complete? Surely that length of time is the time taken to beat the main story, right? I'm hoping so, because 40 hrs for a full length RPG is rather woeful.
It was posted a few times here a while back, and a lot of people that have reviewed it have stated that it really only takes 30-40 hours to beat.

Which is quite woeful for any RPG. :(
 
If you love Final Fantasy, you'll likely love this. If you hate it and other JRPGs, don't bother. Just as you expected. Big crazy story, shiny graphics, lovely music, just like always. A non-branching storyline in the beginning, though. That's also the case in other series games. Final Fantasy was never an exploration game, so why expect that now? I love this fast-paced battle system when it finally opens up. No healing after battles, no walking through towns to advance storylines. Good changes. Fun game.
I've seen enough live streams, hundreds of screenshots (quite literally) and read enough about the gameplay systems and character backgrounds (FFXIII: Episode Zero) to have made up a solid opinion on the game now. Personally, I don't dislike any of the criticisms and welcome the change. No healing after battles is more than welcome to me, I've never liked having to heal after battles to being with. No towns doesn't bother me either, I've never been all the interested in towns. I'm not bothered about the linearity of the maps either. FFXII didn't have linear maps yet I found it very boring trudging round from place to place. :monster:
 
Supposedly, and this is just from what I've heard, the game is only so linear until about mid-game, then it opens up. This sounds like a lot of other JRPGs I've played to be honest. I mean, some games, like Crisis Core, have side-quests from the get-go. Quite a few, like Lost Odyssey, Kingdom Hearts and a decent amount of Final Fantasy games, don't have very many until about mid-game on.
 
Alright this seems to be nice news but is their any spoilers in the video? Cause Im not watching it if their are. Im not clicking the link..... So what is this 10 minute taste? No spoilers hopefully. Well Its gonna be awesome like everybody says. Im the ultimate rpg fanatic etc etc
 
It says that there are none, but it is a cutscene so it depends on what your idea of a spoiler is.

I would say that there are none.
 
On the note of reviewing, I'd ignore any reviews (positive or negative) that come out that aren't from professional sites considering personal preferences should not play a part in good reviews. :monster:
 
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